Getting 4 days for the price of 3… the nursery hack you might want to consider!
After all my daughter’s life (okay she’s 2 in April), she’s finally gone to nursery this week!
My beautiful pandemic/ lockdown baby is off to start her own social life and make new friends other than me, her dad and her brother.
I can’t lie, it’s definitely bitter sweet. I’m going to miss my little girl so much. I literally haven’t spent a day away from her since she was born in April 2020. It’s been us against the world, mostly in the four corners of our house for the past year and a bit. She’s my best friend, my hype woman and my little cheerleader rolled into a cute toddler sized package.
But on the other hand, it’s time. Day by day it’s getting harder to work and sit in on meetings and be proactive when she is around. Although she captures the hearts of everyone via zoom (thank goodness I work for myself now), it’s getting so hard to focus as she is not a little baby anymore. She wants me to play with her and read with her and if I don’t give her attention she starts screaming down the whole house and on a few occasions has just walked up to my laptop and shut it mid meeting. She also needs the time away to get out of the house and be in a different environment with other children her age.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come on Instagram to beg my tribe to give me tips on how to work from home with a little one around. It’s been really tough at times to work with her around that I end up trying to cram things in when she naps or after their bedtime which quite frankly leaves me exhausted by the end of the day.
Aside from the fact that this system is broken and doesn’t support women who want to go back or run businesses with decent childcare options (don’t get me started because that’s another blog post in itself), those limited options cost an arm and a leg and the price of a small yacht.
BUT I think I found a way to go around it to get more bang for your buck. I’m not sure how much this is common knowledge or if I’m just really slow and didn’t realise this was an option but I asked my daughters nursery to send me two quotes before she started.
The first one being 3 full days Monday - Wednesday all year round and the second being 4 full days Monday - Thursday term time only (the same days as her brother). To my surprise they came out roughly the same price. So it was a no brainier for me. More days for the same money? Yes please!!!
Now I know term time only might not be for everyone but if you run a business like me or are more flexible with your work, it might be an option to lower your costs. We all know these nursery fees are not a joke and every little helps.
I am chuffed that I squeezed in an extra day during the week where I actually have childcare and know that I can work from home on my various ventures and projects without children throwing books at me and asking me to read in the middle of meetings haha!
Let me know if you are considering this as an option or if your already doing this!
